I love all things Mexican. Food. Clothes. Little native villages perched high up in the mountains. In my home, taco meat and refried beans are veritable staples.
Sadly, store bought taco seasoning is full of nasty stuff with an ingredients label that reads like a chemistry textbook. If you’ve been wondering how to replace those small packets of MSG-riddled spices with something real, you should give this recipe for homemade taco seasoning a try.
Not only is this homemade taco seasoning more nutritious, it’s also cheap! As an eater of Real Food like grass-fed beef, eggs from pastured chickens, and raw milk from pastured cows, managing my grocery budget can be tricky. I’ve discovered two things:
First, the secret to eating well on a budget is to properly manage my kitchen. Absolutely NOTHING gets wasted!
And Second, I’ve simply had to cut other stuff out of our budget to make room for nourishing, real foods. We don’t have cell phones or cable, but we eat like kings!
Homemade Taco Seasoning
The Players
- 1 Tbsp. Chili Powder
- 1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder
- 1/4 tsp. Onion Powder
- 1/4 tsp. Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
- 1/4 tsp. Dried Oregano
- 1/2 tsp. Paprika
- 1 1/2 tsp. Ground Cumin
- 1 tsp. Sea Salt
- 1 tsp. Black Pepper (optional)
The How-To
Now for the easy part: mix all the spices together and store in an airtight container. The optional black pepper is to increase the spiciness based on your family’s tastes and preferences. If you don’t like spicy foods, simply leave the black pepper out and/or be sure to adjust that tablespoon of chili powder down.
The amounts listed above make up about 2 Tbsp. of homemade taco seasoning mix — the perfect amount to replace one store bought 1.25oz packet.
If you’re like me, you’ll want to make more of this and store it in your pantry for ease of use next time. So, here’s the recipe quintupled:
- 1/4 C. plus 1 Tbsp. Chili Powder
- 1 1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder
- 1 1/4 tsp. Onion Powder
- 1 1/4 tsp. Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
- 1 1/4 tsp. Dried Oregano
- 2 1/2 tsp. Paprika
- 2 Tbsp. plus 1 1/2 tsp. Ground Cumin
- 1 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. Sea Salt
- 1 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. Black Pepper (optional)
If you use the quintupled recipe, you’ll measure out 2 Tbsp. of the homemade taco seasoning per pound of meat. Or, if you’re like me, you simply add it to taste.
Enjoy!
This post is my own contribution to today’s Fight Back Fridays carnival. Go check it out for more interesting recipes, articles, and anecdotes from the world of Real Food!
(photo by beckmann)
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This is just what I needed for making tacos this weekend! I often use organic garbanzo beans instead of ground meat or TVP (ick with taco seasoning). I think I might actually have all of these spices in my pantry, too. Thanks.
I’m so excited to have this recipe! Thanks!
.-= gilliebean
That ground pepper is not optional!!
At least, why would anyone opt out of it?!
.-= V.
V. — LOL. I think it’s optional for those who will find the heat of the chili powder a bit too much already (certainly not me!).
Gilliebean & Heather — You’re welcome!
I made this recipe and loved it! But as I was making it, I noticed that one of the listed ingredients in my chili powder was a very vague “spices.” Isn’t that one of the names for MSG? Please tell me I’m wrong!
Or is there another brand of Chili powder I should be using?
Love it! I started making my own when I realized I had all the ingredients in my cupboard (why was I buying pre-made mixes?!?) Great post!
Thanks!!! I’m going to go whip up a batch of this to keep on hand!
I make my own taco seasoning too and it is so much better! My recipe is here: http://cavemanfood.blogspot.com/2009/04/taco-salad-and-homemade-taco-seasoning.html
.-= Elizabeth
Elizabeth — The advantage of your recipe is that it doesn’t have salt. So, people can salt according to their tastes. I like that.
Heather & Crystal — You’re welcome. Hope you enjoy.
Brittany — Yes, I would try to acquire real chili powder rather than a chili powder mix. Sadly “spices” often hides MSG, and without knowing what’s in the spice mix they’re using, you have no idea whether it contains MSG or not. Finding straight up chili powder is usually easy for me to do (but maybe that’s because I’m in Texas!).
Another reason to make your own spice blends is there are no hidden gluten ingredients!
I’ve made a similar mix before and it’s fantastic, but the real question is . . . when are you going to share your refried bean recipe? I LOVE refried beans but haven’t been able to consistently get a good flavor from homemade ones and we ditched the cans long ago. . . .
Waiting with bated breath for those beans . . .
Best,
Sarah
.-= Sarah
Sarah — I wish I had a recipe. I just sort of throw stuff together and it works. I should try to figure the exact amounts of the recipe out, but the gist of it is this:
In a 6 quart soup pot, pour in enough dried pinto beans to fill 1/4 of the pot. Fill the pan with water up to the halfway point and let sit overnight. In the morning, drain the water and replace it with fresh water. Add salt and let boil 2-4 hours until tender (overcooking them doesn’t matter, since they’ll be mashed anyway.) When the beans are done, drain off most of the liquid, but leave about an inch or two in the bottom of the pot. Add in a can of diced tomatoes with green chiles, a few dashes of soy sauce, and 1/4 C melted butter, then blend with a hand blender until smooth. In a large, deep 12 inch skillet, melt 1 stick of butter and 1/2C tallow. Pour the bean mixture into the skillet and add lots of sea salt, cumin, and taco seasoning to taste. Enjoy! I’ve changed lots of stuff depending on what I’ve got on hand, but the keys seem to be lots of tasty fat, salt, & cumin.
Anna — Good point!
Holy crap! I’ve never been much of fan of refried beans (being of Yankee origin, you see), but that recipe may make me a convert! All that butter!!!
Betsy — So I take it that’s a request to figure out my real recipe and post it?
Huge fan of mexican food here! I have my own taco seasoning recipe as well that has the same exact spices as yours except I do not add oregano. I must try that one next time I make tacos.
.-= Jessie
Thanks! I’m anxious to try it. It might be difficult to find ‘real’ chili powder up here in Canada, but I’m going to look!
.-= Marg
Since I don’t eat tortillas now, I will probably add this mixture into a green salad and enjoy a taco flavored salad. Yum!!!!
Helen — That’s how we do it. Or we make “taco bowls” just by piling all the interior contents of tacos into a bowl and eating it straight: taco meat, refried beans, grilled onions and peppers, salsa, avocado, grated cheese, and a shot of chipotle tabasco sauce. YUMMY!
Kristen, this sounds very close to my recipe of homemade taco seasoning but I am very glad I read this post because I didn’t realize I was using a chili powder mix vs. a real chili powder. Grrr! Just when I think I’m getting away from MSG and all the other junk, they end up sneaking it in in other ways. Now I know why I am so driven to just grow my own of everything! sheesh!
Also please do figure out your recipe for refried beans and post that as well because I love them too!! Thanks.
Great post! I absolutely love Mexican food, and I make my own homemade taco seasoning all the time. This is probably something a lot of people don’t take the time to do, but really, it’s not difficult to do at all and I believe it’s also cheaper as well as healthier.
Here’s my latest Mexican recipe using those spices…http://agriculturesociety.wordpress.com/2009/07/06/steak-enchiladas-with-homemade-red-sauce/
.-= Raine Saunders
For chili powder, you can follow Alton Brown’s recipe on foodnetwork. He makes his own from scratch, so you can pick up ingredients that you trust. He uses 3 kinds of dried chile, cumin seeds and some other ingredients…. It turns out great and removes the ambiguity from your ingredients.
He even has an episode of how to make corn tortillas from scratch, using corn. That’s an experience there!
Thank you! Thank you! And yes, please post the refried bean recipe!!
We do a homemade blend also, only now I’ve gotten lazy and just throw seasonings in there until it tastes just right haha
Never turns out bad and I think it tastes MUCH better than the crappy little packet I bought years ago.
.-= Erica
Tag: cumin substitute
I found this recipe but had no cumin. What to do? Ask googles for substitute. Found three suggestions: chili powder, coriander,curry. Short story: I used 1/2 chili powser, 1/4 coriander, 1/4 curry, also 1/4 cayenne. Result: a passable taco seasoning.
I LOVE this – I just made for my family tonight. For our taco beef we always use a taco spice seasoning, adding it after browning and draining the beef. This was perfectly spiced. Ive been looking for a replacement for the premixed stuff that we buy at the store. I am going to make up a master recipe as soon as I get more chili powder!